


"I'm going to die."

by military_bluebells



Series: First Meetings [2]
Category: Generation Kill
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23753140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/military_bluebells/pseuds/military_bluebells
Summary: The next thing the guy did was reach into his backpack and pull out a can of Monster and slam it next to his coffee. Nate watched with disbelief and faint curiosity as he then opened the can and poured all of it directly into his coffee.“I’m going to die.” He said emphatically as he tipped the cup up and processed to drink all the concoction in one sitting.
Relationships: Nate Fick & Ray Person
Series: First Meetings [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699477
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	"I'm going to die."

Nate would probably describe himself as a morning person, however a 7 am lecture was pushing it a little. He was second into the lecture room – the first was always a girl called Aliyah or Allie, who seemed to spend most of her time in the library – so he chose to sit towards the front. 

More people filtered in as the clock moved closer to 7. Most were yawning or carrying cups of coffee with bleary eyes. 

At 6:59 - Nate knew because he was switching his phone off - a guy darted into the room. Nate rose an eyebrow as he threw himself into the chair next to Nate and slammed a coffee cup on the desk. The coffee sloshed dangerously but didn’t spill. 

The next thing the guy did was reach into his backpack and pull out a can of Monster and slam it next to his coffee. Nate watched with disbelief and faint curiosity as he then opened the can and poured all of it directly into his coffee. 

“I’m going to die.” He said emphatically as he tipped the cup up and proceeded to drink all of the concoction in one sitting. 

Nate opened his mouth to ask one of the many questions he had when the professor walked through the door. He shelved them, though he ended up adding several more as the class progressed, and several observations. 

Firstly, it seemed that every five to ten minutes the guy would ask random yet thought provoking questions that left the professor in stunned silences. Secondly, he seemed to jump between twitching violently under the desk and letting his head loll dangerously low. Thirdly, despite the fact that he looked and seemed to be falling asleep every other minute, he could still debate the professor’s points on _A Farewell To Arms_ with more intricate counters than Nate thought possible with the man’s caffeine intake. By the end of the lecture, Nate had to admit he was impressed, if a little concerned. 

“Are you alright?” he asked as people started to filter back out of the room. The guy turned to look at him, rubbing at one of his eyes. The shade of brown would have looked significantly better without the redness surrounding them. 

“Honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t passed out yet.” 

Nate felt his mouth quirk as he replied, “Considering your caffeine intake at the beginning of the lecture, I’m surprised you were coherent for even half of it.” 

“Practice homes, it’s all in the practice.” The guy said as he stood up. Almost immediately, he swayed, knocking his leg against the desk with a hissed, ‘Ow fuck!” 

“Do you have another lecture?” Nate asked, quickly throwing his bag over his shoulder to help the guy stay standing. 

“Nah, I think I’ll head back to my dorm. Fuck, the room shouldn’t be swaying like this. Brad’s going to laugh his ass off if I die from a caffeine overdose.” 

Nate picked the guy’s bag up, which was oddly heavy, and helped him down the few steps to the main floor. The corridor was pretty busy so Nate wrapped an arm around the guy’s waist, to make sure he wasn’t pushed over. 

“You know most people find out a person name before feeling them up.” The guy said, waggling his eyebrows at Nate. “Although, you’re hot enough that I’ll let that go.” 

“That’s… useful to know.” Nate said carefully. The guy laughed, tripping a little as they exited the building. Nate tightened his arm around the guy’s waist – he should really ask for his name – to keep him upright. 

“I’m Nate Fick.” 

“Ray Person, nice to meet you Nathaniel.” 

Nate stifled a laugh as they made their way slowly down the stairs onto the centre quad. Ray seemed to brighten a little now they were outside, but he was still subtly swaying every now and then. 

“Can I ask why you needed a coffee and a Monster?” 

Ray rubbed the back of his neck, grinning a little, “You know, it’s a funny story, really, you see a friend of mine got into a fight last night and kinda got a concussion. So, he had to stay awake for a couple of hours and it was already three am when we got to the clinic so… I actually haven’t been to sleep yet. It doesn’t help that yesterday I got like two hours sleep, since we were partying and shit.” 

Nate rose an eyebrow and Ray shrugged, “He’s going through a tough break-up. I can’t really blame the guy, I mean he was getting ready to propose to this bitch and he walks in on her fucking his ex-best friend, it’s more than a little fucked up homes. I’m just glad he hasn’t channelled his hurt into attempted murder or something.” 

Nate nodded slowly, “I guess that is one consolation.” 

Ray waved a hand to one of the dorms blocks up ahead, opposite to the one Nate lived in. Ray seemed to be less disorientated as they walked in and headed for the elevator, but he was rubbing his eyes every couple of seconds and Nate could see he was minutes from falling asleep. 

He was swaying a little as they stood in the elevator, so Nate got him to lean on the wall. He shouldn’t have been surprised that Ray leant on him too, since he was standing next to him. The elevator stops on the first floor, and another two people got in. Nate avoided eye contact: he wasn’t sure how to explain why Ray was resting his head on his shoulder, looking perfectly content to stay there. 

They arrived at Ray’s floor – Nate tapped on his waist and he stood up, rubbing at his eyes – and Nate helped him down the corridor towards his room. 

“Yo Ray, what you doin' back?” a guy asked, broad and probably blond, though it was hard to tell from the buzz cut. 

“I’m going to fucking sleep Lilley, since you lazy, inconsiderate fucks left me with a concussed, morose Colbert at four in the morning.” 

“Yeah but he’s your roommate brah, he won’t listen to the rest of us.” 

“He would listen to Kocher, but you shit heads wouldn’t call him.” 

“Brah, he was probably off his face, he had Captain America yesterday.” 

“Still, I shouldn’t have had to suffer alone, do you know just how depressing Brad gets when he’s had enough alcohol to start processing his emotion?” 

Lilley shrugged before turning to look at Nate, “Sup, I ain’t seen you before.” 

“I’m Nate, I was making sure Ray got back to his room without passing out.” 

Lilley nodded, “Cool, thanks brah, Brad would have our heads if something happened to him.” Nate nodded along, though he wasn’t entirely sure if Brad was the same as Colbert who seemed to be Ray’s roommate. 

“Yeah well tell the other fuckers in this corridor to be extra quiet ‘cus if they wake me up, I’ll make sure they pay for it.” Ray said as he walked past Lilley. 

“Sure thing brah.” 

Nate followed Ray to his door and realised that he didn’t really know what to do next. Ray didn’t seem fazed however, as he pushed the door open and threw his bag into his room. 

“Thanks for making sure I didn’t have a heart attack and die in the quad.” 

“No problem,” Nate replied, and off the cuff continued, “and if you need my notes from the lecture, I can text you them.” 

Ray’s eyes widened, “Ah… sure yeah okay.” He swapped Nate’s phone for his and they both put their numbers in. 

“Get some sleep Ray.” Nate said, patting Ray’s arm and heading back the way he came. 

* * *

That night, Ray sent him a selfie of him, shirtless in his bed, with ruffled hair and eyes half open, captioned ‘Best nap ever’.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt credit: https://fanficy-prompts.tumblr.com/  
> ‘my favourite college experience is when I had a 7am class and the kid next to me literally poured a monster energy drink into his coffee said “I’m going to die” and drank the whole thing’  
> #pick an otp imagine them meeting like this


End file.
